Global Warming Educational Initiative Launched
“Focus the Nation” Unveils Website, Tour of Colleges

Portland, OR—A major new educational initiative on global warming is live today on the Internet. Focus the Nation will involve over 1000 universities, colleges and high schools in nationwide, simultaneous one-day symposia that will explore the challenge of “Stabilizing the Climate in the 21st Century”.

“Post Katrina, and with 2006 on track to be the hottest year on record, Americans are getting seriously worried about global warming”, said Ross Gelbspan, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, and author of the book Boiling Point. “Focus the Nation will generate a critically-needed, non-partisan, national dialogue about the bold steps we have to take if we are going to stabilize the climate.”

Students, faculty and staff can sign their schools up to participate at www.focusthenation.org. “Although we are working mostly with high schools and up, we also welcome participation by middle school and elementary school teachers” said Project Director, Dr. Eban Goodstein, Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College. In fact, building from a base in educational institutions, Focus the Nation is also encouraging involvement by faith and civic organizations, businesses, and cities and towns. “The decisions we make over the next decade to either stabilize global warming pollution—or not—will profoundly impact our children’s future. We owe our young people a truly national day of focused conversation about global warming solutions,” said Goodstein.

The symposia are scheduled for January 31st, 2008. The date falls in between the New Hampshire and Super Tuesday political primaries, and Focus the Nation organizers expect that with several million students nationwide discussing global warming solutions, political candidates and elected officials from all parties will join the dialogue.

To launch the effort, Goodstein is touring campuses across the country—including stops in the next few weeks at Columbia, Yale, U Mass Amherst, SUNY Albany, Boise State, and the University of Arizona. Regional launch events will be held on September 30th at Middlebury College in Vermont; October 6th at Arizona State University; November 18that the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; and on December 9th at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. A complete schedule can be found on the project web site at www.focusthenation.org.

Focus the Nation intends to spark discussion about practical solutions to stabilizing the climate. An important part of the educational mission is being shouldered by the project’s business partners, including Clif Bar and Stonyfield Farm. “There are important lessons to be learned from companies that have been successfully reducing their footprint on the planet, while also gaining strength in the marketplace.” said Goodstein.

The Focus the Nation advisory board includes Dr. Bunyan Bryant, School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan; Senator Gary Hart (D-CO); Denis Hayes, Earth Day founder and President of the Bullitt Foundation; Hunter Lovins, President of Natural Capitalism, Inc; Dr. William Moomaw, Professor of International Environmental Policy at Tufts University; Dr. David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College; Billy Parish, Director of Energy Action; the Honorable Claudine Schneider, former member of Congress (R-RI), and Dr. James “Gus” Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.